This place, on Keuka Lake's east side, is a convenience store combined with a cult-famous breakfast and lunch spot. But they could get rid of all other food items and it would still be worth the trip for the Rachel sandwich.

Customers routinely tell owner Seth Olney that his Rachel is the best they've ever had. "They're right, of course," Seth says with a smile. "And it's always great to hear it."

Of course, you could always try the... Forget it, you're getting the Rachel.

Almost since its inception in 1995, Macari Vineyards, located in the North Fork town of Mattituck, has been a top producers of Long Island sauvignon blanc. The 100% stainless steel "Katherine's Field" bottling in particular -- named for owner Joseph Macari Sr.'s wife Katherine -- is a consistent and refreshing wine.

That wine's release is always one I look forward to every spring or early summer -- but this year I was even more curious about it. It's the first Macari sauvignon made by Kelly Urbanik, who joined the winery almost a year ago after leaving Bedell Cellars.

A new winemaker -- not to mention the hot, dry growing season -- have combined to make Macari Vineyards 2010 "Katherine's Field" Sauvignon Blanc ($23) a fine expression of Long Island and 2010.

Intense and fruity, the nose shows a lot of sweet Meyer lemon and pink grapefruit with somewhat tropical aromas, a bit of hay and intriguing sweet herbal notes.

Ripe and forward, but balanced with softer acidity, the palate shows similar sweet lemon-grapefruit citrus character, but with distinct tropical fruit flavors of guava and papaya joining the party. The herbal qualities are still evident, but much less so.

The finish is medium-long with a certain tart and citrusy quality. A bit of heat (the wine is labeled 13.9% abv) detracts a bit from the otherwise clean finish.

June 28, 2011

David Flaherty: De la Senne Wadesda #1 (a series of barrel experiments)In the slightly sketchy outskirts of Brussels, Yvan de Baets and Bernard Leboucq have finally opened their brewery. With the space and rent required for one to realize this dream, you'll often find urban breweries in neighborhoods you don't want to let mom wander around in at night.

Inside, however, pure gold is happening. Riding a wave of beer geek love (they've been brewing at friend's breweries for years and honing their craft), they are one of the hottest micro-breweries in Belgium. And they deserve it; they brew in the long, traditional way with utmost respect for the brewer's art while many around them look for shortcuts and marketing gimmicks.

Starting with their Jambe-de-Bois (an Abbey trippel), they blend it with 3-year old Lambic from Cantillon and age it in a barrel at Cantillon for one year.

The result? One of the strangest, most complex beers I've tried.

The Wadesda is slightly dark with a golden lemon color. Pouring with a massive, seemingly alive foamy head, it gives off ever-changing notes of tangerines, apple cider and horse blanket. Dry, champagne-like with huge acidity, it is sharp and grabs your tongue. A rich roundness from the malt balances with the Lambic beautifully and it leaves your mouth watering like a fiend. I look forward to experiment #2.

Evan Dawson: Goose Watch Winery Cabernet Franc Ice Wine and Swedish Hill Winery Riesling CuveeThis is the time of year for creative summer offerings, and give credit to the folks at Suzanne Fine Regional Cuisine for a nice one.

The Finger Lakes has a dilemma with cabernet franc ice wine -- namely, what to do with it? More producers are cranking it out (and most of it isn't very good), but Suzanne has done something quite clever.

The restaurant takes a small pour of cab franc ice wine from Goosewatch and fills the rest of the glass with Swedish Hill Riesling Cuvee. Too much cab france ice would overpower the sparkler, but a judicious amount adds a brightening touch of sweetness. Finished with a plump raspberry, it makes for an attractive visual. And on an 82-degree summer day, it's a delightful opener to a long, relaxing meal at one of the very finest restaurants anywhere.

No, this pairing isn't designed for point scores or contemplation. But not all wine is in that category, and this time of year, we applaud the creative and thirst-quenching.

Lenn Thompson: Kistler Vineyards 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

It's rare that my wife Nena and I get a night out. It's even more rare that when get one alone with other adults. It's dodo-bird rare that we get a night out alone, with adults, who also happen to love wine as much as we do.

The stars aligned and we found ourselves at just such a dinner Saturday night.

We started our meal with Hermann J. Wiemer 2009 Dry Riesling Reserve, a beautiful wine with the kind of acidity/tension/verve that I love with food, and expect from top Finger Lakes riesling. And as you may have guessed, I ordered it.

Our friends ordered this pinot noir and we enjoyed it quite a bit. Decidedly not Burgundian (and why should it be?) the nose was filled with dark fruits -- plum, black cherry and blackberr -- with nice brown spice notes and something a bit floral. Ripe and medium-full bodied, the palate showed light, silky tannins and good acidity to keep things taut.

Seems like this could -- and maybe should -- sit in the cellar for another 5-10 years.

On Monday, July 4, Luce & Hawkins Restaurant at the Jedediah Hawkins Inn in Jamesport will host an event that is sure to be talked about for quite some time: a 90-person ticketed event featuring local food, beverages and music.

Events similar to this have been done on the North Fork for years, but this event is different than anything else done.

Having been a professional musician in between being a James Beard and Food & Wine award-winning chef, Chef Keith Luce has always thought that music and food go hand in hand, and it has long been his desire to bring this combination to life at the restaurant and inn.

With my help and some other connections, they were able to get G. Love to sign on as the headlining act for a very special event on July 4. I work with Love’s sister, who imports French wines through Daniel Johnnes Selections and Michael Skurnik Wines. So I made a phone call to her and Love’s management. It wasn’t easy, but we made it happen.

The music lineup will start in the early afternoon with two opening acts, Bryce Larsen, a top-seven Finalist on American Idol season 9 and John Divello, who is set to release a studio album and is opening for the famous blues guitarist, Johnny Winter next month.

That's just the music -- which is pretty awesome. Chef Luce will be going above and beyond, as he usually does, with the food. He'll serve whole, roasted animals, local seafood and produce.

On hand will be the wines on tap of Gotham Project, with their very own Charles Bieler (of Three Thieves with Joel Gott, and Bieler Rosé fame) manning the custom kegging machine. They will be pouring Finger Lakes riesling as well as a North Fork chardonnay. Beers will be served by local south shore brewery, Great South Bay, who will be pouring their main beers as well as some small batch beers brewed just for the event.

Only 90 tickets were available when the event was first announced, but it's almost sold out..

Call the Inn at (631) 722-2900 and purchase your tickets with Tom or Michael. They will mail you your tickets once you make your reservation or you may come and pick them up.

Though off-dry with 1.5% residual sugar, there is a citrus drenched bold of electric acidity that runs through this flora, citrusy wine. It teaches an important lesson -- in good years (like 2009 for whites like riesling in the Finger Lakes) even an estate's entry-level wine can be impressive.

Our second wine for the Basic Level this month comes from the 2009 vintage in the Finger Lakes as well -- Fox Run Vineyards 2009 Dry Riesling.

There are certainly times when I find dry rieslings from the Finger Lakes a bit one-dimensional and lacking in depth and concentration. I tend to refer to those wines as acid water. That is anything but the case here. Winemaker Peter Bell is well-regarded in the region and beyond and his rielsing are often the stars of his portfolio. Very floral and minerally, I also found bright lime, grapefruit and white tea character here -- all wrapped up in a lively, mouth-watering package.

With our Premium-Level wines this month, I decided to do something for the first time -- pick two wines that I hope you'll drink side-by-side.

Two sauvignon blancs made by the same winery from the same vintage using the same techniques -- but from two different vineyards owned by the same grower.

I'm not going to tell you anything about these wines. I really hope you'll drink them side by side and I honestly don't' want to have any pre-conceived notions going in. Just know that they are both fresh, balance and come without any oak flavors to get in the way.

Learn more about the club and by all means, sign up. You can just do a month or three if you want to try it out. And as always, if you have any questions, please just ask me!

Residents of the City of Buffalo may have noticed a strange phenomenon last week: all beer-loving residents suddenly became completely unavailable at work, at home and in their social lives. Every craft beer enthusiast in town went off the societal radar for seven days of the beer extravaganza known as Buffalo Beer Week.

When I described Buffalo Beer Week to a friend he replied, “Wow, so this is kind of like your Hanukkah?”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Beer Week is a series of bar events, tap specials, beer releases, pairing dinners, and other fun stuff guaranteed to showcase Buffalo’s rich beer community. While I wasn’t able to attend all the Beer Week activities, I did make a point of checking out some of the featured New York beers and events.

Tuesday night — my birthday, conveniently enough — was a great beer night with Rauchapalooza at Fat Bob’s Smokehouse downtown. Fat Bob’s put together a delicious barbecue buffet to be paired with two smoked beers: the classic German Schlenkerla Urbock, and our very own Custom Brewcrafters maple-smoked lager. The latter was my table’s favorite for its drinkability (as good as smoked beer is, not everyone wants to drink bacon). It shows a nice tobacco/ash smokiness with sweet, full malt flavors, a nice touch of maple that’s not over-the-top, and a crisp, even finish. It was smoky enough for an excellent barbecue pairing but with a smooth malt profile that made it extremely drinkable. Brewer Bruce Lish was in attendance, as were Ethan Cox and Rudy Watkins of Community Beer Works and Randy Ford of ROCbeer.

Hopheads know Ithaca Beer Company is hard to beat when it comes to the IPA, and the hype for the brewery’s Phish tribute beer, Hop Stash IPA, was well deserved. I picked up a growler and was rewarded with a citrusy, musky, drool-inducing hop profile with a long, slow simmer of prickly bitterness on the finish. Flower Power lovers: get some.

Pizza Plant, always a haven of hoppy stuff, was in full force during Beer Week with a tap list almost exclusively made up of double IPAs. Of these my favorite was Captain Lawrence Double IPA: gorgeous, fruity, balanced, and the most subtle and well-crafted in a group of dank and boozy hop bombs (and I mean that in the most loving way possible). It’s a rare treat to see Captain Lawrence in this neck of the woods and I was once again impressed by the brewery’s excellence with this style.

On Saturday, Beer Week ended with a bang: an amazing tour put on by Buffalo Brewery Tours showcasing our city’s brewing history, current beer sites, and the future of the industry.

We got to step inside the old William Simon brewery, once the city's second-largest and still fully intact, with a talk by William Simon IV himself - -and take home some vintage Simon Pure shwag as souvenirs.

A real highlight of the day was a sample from Community Beer Works of a prototype American pale ale made with Citra hops, which will be their flagship.

Though Buffalo’s brewing culture has historically been German-influenced in style and technique, the CBW crew will bring more hops, sours, and other more funky elements to the Buffalo brewing scene. The entire tour was a great celebration of pride in our city’s rich beer tradition.

Beer Week will be in even greater force next year, and the goal will be greater promotion so that more people who are new to craft beer will get a chance to experience some of the events. If you missed it, don’t worry — many of the unique beers featured are still on tap!

You might be wondering where David Flaherty, our New York City Correpondent, has been the last couple of months.

He's in Europe, with his wife, visiting breweries, vineyards and other food and wine meccas. You can keep up with their travels via his blog, Grapes & Grains, but I wanted to share this video they shot in the Loire Valley with Nicolas Joly.

No, it's not New York, but it's timely what with all the 'natural' and 'biodynamic' discussion on the site in the wine world lately.

June 24, 2011

The NYCR team doesn't necessarily need a special occasion or invitation to eat or drink local, but Eat Drink Local Week starts today -- and we're absolutely behind it and hope it encourages more New Yorkers to check out their local bounty.

Organized by Edible Manhattan, Edible Brooklyn and Edible East End, this is a great week-long festival with some great participating restaurants offering Eat Drink Local prix fixe menus.

You may not know who Erik Bilka is, but chances are he's helped make at least some of your favorite Long Island wines.

Bilka, who launched Influence Wines in 2009, has been working at Premium Wine Group -- a custom crush facility responsible for several Long Island labels -- since 2001. In fact, he was employee #3 when he joined founder Russell Hearn and John Leo.

Prior to joining PWG, he worked the 2000 harvest with Alice Wise as a Cornell Cooperative Extension vineyard assistant.

Working at PWG, Bilka has worked with many consulting winemakers over the last decade and each has helped Bilka hone his winemaking talents, but he points to his fellow PWG winemakers, Roman Roth, Gilles Martin and Eric Fry specifically.

"Seeing all of these different cultures, educations and philosophies along with results in the glass have made PWG the greatest place to learn the wine business," he told me in an email.

He describes his winemaking style as "minimalistic" and he eschews acid, tannin, sugar or fining manipulations whenever possible. And, Bilka has more of an artistic than scientific attitude about winemaking. "I do not believe winemaking is necessarily about numbers. Brix, pH, TA and alcohol are numbers we all look at during the process, but I don't subscribe to the belief that there a perfect numbers. Wine is an imperfect process but I try to always allow the fruit to be the star."

Influence Wines 2010 Riesling ($20) is made using fruit grown by Bill Dalrymple at Ovid Farm on Seneca Lake, and is made without any sugar or acidity adjustments.

Fruit-forward and off-dry, the palates is a bit more citrusy, dominated by lime and grapefruit flavors with soft layers of peach and green apple. While not as linear or as focused as some Finger Lakes rieslings, it is fresh and shows good balance.

The finish is fairly lengthy and shows lots of sweet fruit -- peach candy, candied lime and just a little grapefrult zest.

For now, Influence Wines only makes this single riesling, but Bilka hopes to expend in the future, perhaps with cabernet franc he said "Just because I like it." Influence Wines are distributed through Lieb Familiy Cellars and are available in Lieb's tasting room.

June 23, 2011

In case you missed it, the NYCR is a finalist in the "Best Single Subject Wine Blog" category in this years Wine Blog Awards.

We're honored but quick to remind you that NYCR isn't about us -- it's about the wines, beers and spirits of New York State. And with that in mind, we would really love to win to once again shine a bright light on the beverage artisans across the state.

If you think us worthy, we hope that you'll take a few moments to go vote for us along with your other favorite blogs.

There are some truly inspired blogs in each of the categories that are worthy of your vote:

Voting runs from June 21 – 27. The final winners of each category will be determined via a 50/50 weighting of the public vote and that of the judges and will be announced on July 23, 2011 at the North American Wine Bloggers Conference.

The Long Island Wine Council estimates that 1.2 million people visited Long Island wine country last year. The Finger Lakes Wine Country promotion group estimates that 750,000 visited wineries in that region. And according to the New York Wine and Grape Foundation website, there were nearly 5 million total visitors to New York wine country in 2008.

That's a lot of people tasting -- and hopefully buying -- a lot of New York wine.

Empire State Cellars has the potential to dwarf that exposure when it opens later this summer at the Tanger Outlet Center in Riverhead.

"Incredibly, the Tanger Riverhead Outlet mall sees five million cars (per year). That’s about fourteen million shoppers a year -- from Long Island, Manhattan and beyond -- with a startlingly high demographic and propensity to make purchases," said Jim Silver, general manager of Peconic Bay Winery, which will open the store as the second of it s five permissible tasting rooms under its Farm Winery license.

Satellite tasting rooms are nothing new, of course. They are increasingly common in the Finger Lakes and Pindar Vineyards on the North Fork has a second tasting room in the village of Port Jefferson to take advantage of the tourist traffic there.

This is much more than just a satellite tasting room, however.

New York Wine, Cider and Spirits Superstore

Under New York SLA rules, Peconic Bay Winery can sell not only its own wines at Empire State Cellars, but cider, spirits and other wines from any winery as well -- as long as it is New York AVA products produced in New York State. Empire State Wines will sell all of the above. "We would also like to include New York cheeses and food crafts as well, but we might not have that at first," Silver added.

"We intend to represent the very best the state has to offer, as well as great values -- since this is an outlet store -- at competitive prices," he said. The store will stock wines from every corner of New York wine country -- Lake Erie, Thousand Islands, Adirondacks, Hudson Valley, Niagara, Finger Lakes and Long Island.

"We will try to represent any New York producer that wants to be in the store," Silver said of the planned selection. The store will also stock multi-vintage verticals of select wines as well as older wines, when available.

Any winery represented in the shop will also have the opportunity to pour at scheduled daily in-store tastings. "If a Finger Lakes winemaker is visiting the area, we may schedule them for the day, and maybe the next day have someone from the Hudson Valley pouring his baco noirs and the next day maybe a Long Island winery will pour new releases," Silver said.

It's About Timing

The concept for Empire State Cellars isn't a new one, of course. There are and have been wine shops that focus on New York wines or feature large New York selections -- most famously the now-closed Vintage NY stores in Manhattan and New Paltz.

When I asked Silver where he thinks his concept will succeed where others haven't he said it's largely about timing. "There’s a growing interest in New York wines that is unprecedented so I think the time is right for this type of store. There’s no Jack Daniels, no Smirnoff, and no Cavit Pinot Grigio in this store. We have to exist on people’s growing interest in the local wine and the local economy too. It’s not going to be easy I’m sure, but with the support of the industry behind us we should all do well."

The new shop will be run and managed independently of the winery by Polly Brown (picture right with Silver and assistant manager Evan Ducz), the shops operations director. "She has a great depth and diversity of experience in the wine, spirits and food industries -- most of it in Napa. Polly is charged with handling the selection and the marketing of all of the wines, and is strictly independent," Silver said.

Local Reviews Too

The "local" angle of the shop isn't just about the products it will sell -- it extends to how they sell them as well. According to Silver, Empire State Cellars will feature “home-grown” shelf-talking reviews and descriptions of wines and spirits as well. "The reviews and write ups from the New York Cork Report, the New York Times and Wine Spectator magazine -- which is a New York company -- will be the predominant reviews on the shelf."

What This Could Mean for New York Wine and its Fans

It's only one shop, however, but I think the impact could be large. Empire State Cellars has the opportunity to do something that I don't think has been done before -- bring the quality message, the quantity message, the value message and the diversity message all together in one well-curated store -- and present it to millions of people.

That New York produces wine, cider and spirits isn't news these days. But when people have the opportunity to experience all the best, all in one room -- and that is the goal here it seems -- it can completely change the way the state's artisan beverages are perceived. Plus, this isn't just a marketing vehicle or a one-time even or yearly festival. It’s like a farmer’s market devoted just to wine -- that is open every day. I think it can, and will, sell a lot of wine.

And if you are on Long Island and interested in local wines -- there may be no better place to explore and learn. Brown hopes to work with all of the state's top producers -- even those without distributors. That means that Empire State will likely be the only place on Long Island to get many of these products. As a "local" geek, I'm really looking forward to that.

Silver and Brown hope to open the shop on August 1 (but with all the licensing involved, there isn't a firm date yet). For those familiar with the Riverhead Tanger Outlets, the store will be located next to the food court and will essentially share a parking lot with the Ralph Lauren outlet store.

Calling all New York Wineries

Silver wants to hear from any and all wineries, cider makers and distillers interested in selling their products in the store:

"We’re interested in knowing what the wineries would like us to carry – to get the conversation started. Once we’ve heard from you we’ll get back to you with our thoughts, terms and policies and let you know when we will start taking samples. We also need to figure out a mechanism to consolidate product in the various regions so we can pick up wine and bring it down here. Of course the Long Island wineries will be able to bring us their stuff regularly, but we’d like to have pick up points in the Finger Lakes and other regions so our truck can bring them down to the store. Since these sales will be bond-to-bond we cannot take deliveries from distributors. All sales will be direct. I can tell you I’m personally looking forward to getting my hands on some Roanoke, Anthony Road, Weimer, Paumanok, Shinn, Lucas, Channing, Ravines, Sheldrake, Hearts and Hands, McKenzie Rye, wow, the list really goes on and on!"

We know that our NYCR readership is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about New York wines, so let's let Silver, Brown and the Empire State Wines team know the producers that we'd recommend. I'm already planning a long email of my own recommendations.

June 22, 2011

The Lenz Winery in Peconic has a new tasting room manager. His name is Jerol Rickard and he brings experience in project management, market research and litigation to the job -- experience that should serve him well running the tasting room at one of the North Forks classic wineries.

He brings a unique perspective on wine as well, having grown up in California wine country. A member Lenz wine club before joining the company, he's also keenly familiar with the portfolio and in local wine in general.

And now, he answers our set of seven questions...

What event/bottle/etc made you decide that you wanted to be in the wine industry?

I grew up in Northern California, in the Bay Area, and Napa and Sonoma were right in my backyard. On weekends, visiting wineries was always a choice on the list of activities.

On a trip to Napa for a friends 30th birthday we visited Andretti Winery. As we were all gathered on the terrace with our wine glasses in hand, toasting to his birthday with a glass of 2001 sangiovese, I was taking in the scenery, the rolling hills, and the vines in the distance and thought “Man, this is the life; I could do this every day.”

During that train ride we stopped at Grgich Hills Family Winery and were given a glass and cellar tour. After the cellar tour, we were able to purchase a bottle (although I do not recall which bottle I bought, I did take note that it was the first bottle I ever purchased.) of wine to open during the dinner portion of the train ride.

Which of your current wines is your favorite and why?

There are so many wines that I enjoy at Lenz, after all I was a wine club member prior to working at the winery.

If I had to choose one and only one it would be the cabernet sauvignon. I know that merlot and chardonnay are always among peoples favorites at Lenz and on Long Island but Eric Fry does a tremendous job with the cabernet sauvignon, and it was that wine alone (2006 vintage) that ultimately made up my mind to sign up for the subscribers program.

What has surprised you most about being a member of the New York wine community?

What most surprised me would have to be the sense of community and support from other industry people, employed at Lenz and all the other wineries on the North Fork. Just the other day I was at a BBQ where there was a mixture of winery owners, winemakers, managers and tasting room staff, all in one spot enjoying each other’s company. It was a great thing to be a part of.

Other than your own wines, what wine/beer/liquor most often fills your glass?

If it isn’t wine it would be a Scotch on the rocks, however, often times it is wine. Some of my favorites are Italian wines, such as Zinfandel/Primitivo, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo etc.

Is there a 'classic' wine or wine and food pairing that you just can't make yourself enjoy?

I am a huge fan of red wine with an appreciation of white wines, except for sweet wines. Anything slightly syrupy is definitely not on my list of cravings.

Wine enjoyment is about more than just the wine itself. Describe the combination of wine, locations, food, company, etc. that would make (or has made) for the ultimate wine-drinking experience.

Recently my partner (who is also in the industry) and I have been involved with a blind tasting group. We meet once a month to taste different wines organized by the host of the night. It is a blind tasting, meaning that we do not know the maker of the wines, so it pushes you to really get in to the wine and test your senses.

At the end of the night being among friends, enjoying and learning (in most cases) about new wines, eating food specifically paired with the different wines is both educational and enjoyable, making it, in my opinion an ultimate wine drinking experience.

The brain child of Terroir's Wine Director and Co-Owner Paul Grieco has grown over the last few years and this year Grieco -- long a supporter of New York wines -- has signed more than 160 restaurants and wine bars across the country on to take part. Each has agreed to pour three rieslings by the glass through September 24. There are many restaurants in New York City participating, but a couple wine country restaurants are participating as well. In the Finger Lakes, Red Newt Cellars Winery & Bistro is joining the funand here on the North Fork Luce & Hawkins will be taking part, pouring Long Island, Finger Lakes and German wines.

Loving riesling is easy in New York because there are quality rieslings being made in every major region. Get out there this summer and taste as many as you can -- and let us know what you find.

It is with great humility that I announce that the NYCR is a finalist in the "Best Single Subject Wine Blog" category in this years Wine Blog Awards.

Obviously our team doesn't do what we do here on the site to win awards, but it's always satisfying to be recognized by our readers and our peers.

But, this site isn't about us -- it's about the wines, beers and spirits of New York State. And with that in mind, we would really love to win to once again shine a bright light on the beverage artisans across the state.

If you think us worthy, we hope that you'll take a few moments to go vote for us along with your other favorite blogs. There are some truly inspired blogs in each of the categories that are worthy of your vote:

Voting runs from June 21 – 27. The final winners of each category will be determined via a 50/50 weighting of the public vote and that of the judges and will be announced on July 23, 2011 at the North American Wine Bloggers Conference.

On special occasions, Anthony Road Wine Company winemaker Johannes Reinhardt hauls out a long, unlabeled bottle. It's marked only with the letters "SP." Those letters represent one important and potentially game-changing word.

Spontaneous.

In 2009, Reinhardt decided to experiment with natural, or spontaneous, fermentation. He created a small batch of riesling, only 80 cases, for the purpose of studying the differences between the usage of cultivated yeast and native yeast.

This is a small step, but potentially one with large implications for the Finger Lakes wine industry. Anthony Road is a leader in riesling quality, and if this project turns out to be successful, it would not be surprising to see other producers follow suit.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

"Taking off the uniform"

Most Finger Lakes winemakers use cultivated (or "commercial") yeast to guide fermentations. Reinhardt has always done the same. Part of his desire to experiment with native yeast comes from his curiosity about what other characteristics might emerge in Finger Lakes wines.

"Cultivated yeast provides a kind of uniform," he says. "The wines might show similar characteristics, similar aromas and flavors. There's nothing wrong with that. But natural yeast removes the uniform, let's say it that way."

The result from his first effort with native yeast presents a kind of riesling that is markedly different. With 16 grams of residual sugar but blessed with high acidity, it's a wine that straddles dry and semi-dry. Johannes noticed the changes immediately.

"It's just different," he says. "It doesn't have the notes of sweeter fruits in the nose, no banana or pear, for example. There is a different set of aromas. And in the mouth it is quite different. There is this intriguing structure, more grip, a very interesting texture. There is more weight and good tension."

This riesling will become one of a small handful of wines in the region to be made in this method. Bloomer Creek uses spontaneous fermentation, and Hermann J. Wiemer uses less cultivated yeast than most. Reinhardt referred to the Wiemer method as "an inspiration."

Reinhardt explains that using native yeast might allow the wines to better display vintage variation. "I would expect that to be the case, and I hope that's the case," he says. "I'm someone who enjoys seeing the differences from year to year, and I do wonder if cultivated yeast helps mask those differences."

Many of the best wines of Germany are made with native yeast, and that fact is not lost on Reinhardt, a German with great respect for his home country.

"It will take years to get comfortable"

Despite Reinhardt's enthusiasm for this project, he is humble about the early results. After producing 80 cases of spontaneously fermented riesling in 2009, Reinhardt produced 102 in 2010 and is aiming to make closer to 200 in 2011, along with some gewurztraminer.

"But that's still a small amount of wine, you know?" he says. "Nothing has gotten out of hand so far, so that's good. But it'll take years go get comfortable, probably five or six or seven years for me."

In 2009, Reinhardt had to exercise patience, "which is not always easy for a German to do," he explains. After clarifying the juice, Reinhardt prepared it for fermentation and then waited. "After a week, nothing," he says. "After two weeks, still nothing. I was not nervous because I knew the juice would do what it wanted to do. But after three weeks, you could finally hear the fermentation taking place. It had started on its own."

In 2010 he only needed to wait seven days for the fermentation to begin. And despite the occasional association of natural wine with some of the wilder aspects of winemaking, Reinhardt insists that cleanliness is key. "You simply must have a clean facility, and you have to fill your tanks," he says, explaining that full tanks will ward off early oxidation.

Ultimately, Reinhardt can envision making most of his wine in this method. "But that's a long road to go," he says with a smile. "I'm just trying to gain experience. I have so much to learn."

First release coming soon

Don't ask Reinhardt if he thinks wine made with spontaneous fermentation is better. He says it's far too soon to know -- and he will continue to use cultivated yeast in most of his winemaking for now. After all, some of the most highly regarded wines in the world are made with cultivated yeast. "There's no right or wrong here," he says. "I think we're all just trying to do the best we can."

The Anthony Road 2009 Spontaneous Fermentation Riesling will be released in September, Reinhardt says, likely for around $20. They will have to figure out what to call it. Reinhardt might downplay its significance, but for a producer of Anthony Road's stature, everyone will be watching and tasting this riesling.

Lucas Vineyards 2009 Reserve Riesling ($22): A bit lean on the nose in terms of fruit, with fennel and slate leading the way with some lime peel in the background. Drier style with lime, fennel and a little citrus pith. Good balance and a long finish that is all lime and river rock. Rating: 85

Lieb Family Cellars 2005 Reserve Merlot ($22): Nose displays ripe plum aromas beneath nutty oak, cedar and tobacco. Ripe on the palate, but not over the top. Tannins are a bit chewy and the oak is a bit forward right now. Nice plum and blackberry fruit beneath, however. Just a little oaky. Rating: 86

Rooster Hill Vineyards 2008 Estate Cabernet Franc ($20): The nose is all cherries and cherry compote with subtle chocolate, bacon and orange zest notes. Medium-lighter body with red cherry-cranberry flavors with a smokey edge. Hints of dried orange peel on the long finish. Good acidity, but lacks a bit of tannin structure. Rating: 83

Rooster Hill Vineyards 2008 Lemberger Reserve ($35): Smoked pork on the nose -- more like ham than bacon -- with raspberry and cranberry fruit and black pepper spice. Medium body and round in the mouth with cran-raspberry fruit black pepper and a distinct smokey-savory quality. Savory herb notes emerge with time in the glass.The tannins are of medium intensity and pretty well incorporated to go along with enough acidity to bring a little freshness. Rating: 87

Shinn Estate Vineyards 2010 Coalescence ($15): Peachy with grapefruit and lime fruit aromas and layers of sweet herbs, lemongrass and a subtle earthy quality. Quite different from 2009. Fills the mouth, starting with a cherry note before getting into intense citrus, pear, golden raisin and guava notes. Beautifully textured with good acidity. The finish is a bit short and I miss some of the focus of last year's. Rating: 84

June 20, 2011

To build on the success of the first of our "New York Beverage Artisan Dinners" at Luce & Hawkins, we knew we wanted to do a wine dinner -- but not just any wine dinner.

And, I think we're doing something pretty different -- by featuring a Finger Lakes winemaker and his wines.

Tom Higgins, co-owner and winemaker at Heart & Hands Wine Company on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes is traveling to the North Fork on July 11 to share five of his pinot noir-based wines as we enjoy a four-course meal prepared by Chef Keith Luce.

This very well may be the first-ever Finger Lakes wine dinner in Long Island wine country.

If you're not familiar with Heart & Hands Wine Company, you've probably not been a NYCR reader for very long and you probably haven't read Finger Lakes editor Evan Dawson's book yet either (why not by the way?).

Simply stated, Higgins is making some of the most exciting pinot noir-based wines in the state, if not the entire East Coast. Heart & Hands is small, producing fewer than 2,000 cases per year, and while Higgins does make some (very good) riesling, the pinots are the stars of the portfolio and make the winery a real jewel in the region.

Dinner will start at 7 p.m. on July 11 and will offer a rare opportunity to taste these wines on Long Island, and we're thankful that Higgins has been enthusiastic about taking part in our dinner series. He'll be pouring his 2009 Brut Rose, 2009 Pinot Noir, two 2008 single-vineyard pinot noirs and a 2008 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir.

Seats are $75 (including tax and gratuity) and we only have 40 seats available for this dinner -- which I expect to sell out fairly quickly.

I’ve been able to experience firsthand the rapid expansion and improvement in quality in the last four years in the Niagara region. There is plenty to be optimistic about. Just four short years ago, the region was home to seven wineries of varying styles and quality -- and they had just formed what we know today as the Niagara Wine Trail.

By the end of this summer, the trail will have more than doubled in size to 15 thanks to wineries like Long Cliff and Gust of Sun, which are slated to open their doors before the end of the growing season.

The relative affordability of buying land here, combined with the fact that there’s plenty of great vineyard land still available, has no doubt contributed to this rapid growth.

After last month’s TasteCamp, the obvious lack of big investment couldn’t have been more apparent during Sunday’s time in the U.S. side of Niagara wine country. While this is something the region can’t change overnight, it is certainly not an issue unique to Niagara – and not the only thing holding itback.

So after four years of seeing some things change and many things stay the same, I thought it would be interesting to list what I believe to be the not-so-obvious obstacles this young region faces.

Winemaking Experience

There have been quite a few memorable wines made here and it’s amazing in a positive way to think that only a small portion of them were made by a winemaker with formal training in winemaking. While I’m of the belief that great grapes make great wine, consumers expect quality in every bottle of every vintage – something that is undoubtedly easier with experience and a familiarity with the local conditions terroir.

Now this obviously goes back to the “money thing” but I think it also has to do with the priorities the winery.

Eveningside Vineyards is a great example of a winery with micro-production and a modest budget that finds the resources to pay consulting winemaker Angelo Pavan of Cave Spring Cellars in Ontario. His experienced hand shows in the quality and consistency I’ve tasted in their wines from day one.

I want to make myself clear though, I don't believe formal training or a degree is a must to make great wine. On the job experience and apprenticing goes a long way in this industry.

Marketing Niagara

Let’s pretend for a second there isn’t a native grape called “Niagara” that everyone associates with grape-y, foxy and often off-putting aromas. The word would then be open for sexier associations, like ice wine, chardonnay, pinot noir or cabernet franc. I know it’s not that easy, but the preconceived notion that all of our wine is foxy, grape-y or sweet is a hurdle that the region needs to overcome.

I am well aware that the native grape stigma is not exclusive to the Niagara region. The Finger Lakes has always had these native wines but that region is now a shining example of how to cultivate the grapes that do best, in their case riesling, and market themselves as the premier destination for that grape in the country.

Buses and Limos

It wouldn’t benefit any business owner to complain about the sheer number of visitors that come through their doors, especially in such a young region. But when a certain contingent of customers, and I use that term liberally, simply see your business as a stop on a day-long winery crawl, I think there needs to be careful consideration as to who your real “customers” are.

I’ve come to believe that it’s not the wine you’re wasting when you are pouring for people who don’t care enough to know what’s in their glass. It’s the winery employee’s time that may be the real waste. The personal interaction between pourer and taster cannot be underestimated, especially when the wines benefit from the background of vintage variation, winemaking techniques or any information that lends itself to a customer’s appreciation of the experience.

Too often I’ve seen tasting rooms get instantly inundated with groups of 20, 30 and even 40 – the majority who have been drinking in their buses, are indifferent to what wines they’re trying and are all around disruptive to smaller groups and couples looking to taste in a relaxing atmosphere. I’ve seen wineries increase their tasting fees just to ensure they aren’t losing money on these groups, but that in my opinion negatively affects sales, especially to those who generally buy at least one wine at each winery because they feel obligated.

Hospitality

Like in Field of Dreams, the idea of “If you build it, they will come” is one you can apply to wineries. In Niagara USA, the wineries have been built and the vineyards have been planted, but where do they stay and where do they eat?

Of course, there are plenty of awesome accommodations in Western New York, but not so much in the middle of the wine growing region. At the same time, the trail is now big enough to consider taking two days to explore. While the towns of Lewiston, Youngstown and the cities of Niagara Falls and Buffalo are all close enough to be made home base, there just aren’t enough B&Bs and restaurants in the heart of the trail.

Sure, there are a handful of restaurants and cottages on the lakeshore, but they haven’t made much of an effort to stock local wines or do things to position themselves to benefit from the influx of tourists.

I also feel it’s up to the wineries to make their farm a destination in and of itself, with special tasting events and promotions, live music, art exhibitions and picnics. But it seems like they’re just struggling to keep up with aforementioned buses and limos. That’s preventing them from dedicating staff to anything other than mass tastings.

None of these obstacles are insurmountable, especially in the long term. But producers here need to look to their neighbors to the north and south to come up with some solutions. Niagara is by no means isolated. It sits between two of the largest growing regions on the east coast. Hopefully the knowledge accumulated by those around us will help us evolve, and not just in growing and winemaking, but in marketing, operating and in our ability to take care of our visitors.

June 17, 2011

I had absolutely no expectations as I drove east on the thruway on my very first trip to the Hudson Valley wine country. David Jackson of Hudson-Chatham Winery and his wife Kathy were kind enough to invite me to their home and show me around, and I could think of no better way to spend one of the first beautiful weekends of summer than exploring a new wine scene.

What was in store was a fascinating, vibrant and diverse region with a young-but-exciting quality wine industry, gorgeous farmland, exciting local beer and spirits, an amazing array of edible bounty, and passionate people who believe in the future of the Hudson Valley.

After a five-hour drive it was beer o’clock, so I began my Hudson Valley experience with a visit to Chatham Brewing.

A tucked-away site literally located in an alley, Chatham’s entrance welcomed me with a hop garden and the sight of locals lining up to fill growlers and kegs. I opted to taste through their full lineup and was solidly impressed. The beers showed great malt presence and balance: the maple amber wasn’t too sweet, the IPAs not too bitter, the porter not too roasty, all with well-integrated and clean flavors and crisp, smooth mouthfeel.

Brewmaster Matt explained that he’s all about Old World styles; it shows in his well-made, elegant brews. My two favorites were the porter and the 8-barrel IPA.

Growlers in hand, I was ready for a day of adventure. My hosts had a full weekend planned; after lunch in Chatham we visited two beautiful farms, Chatham Shepherding and Kinderhook, offering local cheeses, meats and eggs, and even stopped at a distillery before heading to Hudson-Chatham for wine tasting.

I was particularly impressed by Harvest Spirits, a distillery making apple vodka, applejack, pear brandy and some fun experimental stuff including grappa, frozen applejack and — to my delight — eisbock using Chatham Brewing Company’s ESB.

Distiller Derek Grout was extremely friendly and took the time to explain the processes to me; I loved all his products but especially enjoyed the subtle, fresh, clean Core vodka, which was a refreshing change from over-the-top mass produced “apple” vodkas. Vodka and brandy lovers should definitely seek these products out, as they distribute throughout the state.

As diverse as the Hudson Valley is, I came for the wine, and I can honestly say I was unprepared for what I tasted over the weekend. I tasted almost exclusively wines from Hudson Valley-sourced fruit, and overall my first impressions can be summed up in two words: character and balance.

With few exceptions, the wines I tasted were low on manipulation and oak and big on honest, terroir-driven character. My tasting notes are full of words like “brambly,” “tar and earth,” “nice minerality,” and “cherries”; seldom did I experience noticeable “oakiness” or other manipulative characteristics. Fruit and earth were front and center, which was helpful because I was tasting many of these varietals, such as De Chaunac and Chalois, for the first time. Most of the wines I tasted could simply not be made “just anywhere,” and that’s what wine is all about for me.

I and many NYCR readers know Carlo DeVito (pictured left with the wine thief) as one of the smartest guys in the New York wine business, but he’s also a winery owner and downright amazing host.

At Hudson-Chatham I walked with DeVito's winemaker Steve Casscle through the rocky, extremely sloped young vineyards, then tasted through their 2010 barrel samples including Chelois, De Chaunac and Baco.

The wines were meaty with loads of dark fruit, earthy, and delicious, again with a light hand oak-wise. The reds actually reminded me of certain Tuscan wines with their cherry tones and bloody, minerally quality. I also got to try the winery’s new 2009 estate seyval, which is a grape with the fresh acid and clean lime and lemon tones to really be the star white in the Hudson Valley. DeVito and Casscle’s obvious excitement and passion for their upcoming releases is well justified.

In addition to being a down-to-earth, unassuming guy despite his obvious intelligence, Casscles obviously has a talent for coaxing character out of these hybrids. I have no doubt these grapes are going to be the Hudson Valley’s unique selling point as the quality of estate bottlings continues to develop.

For dinner, the DeVitos and Jacksons introduced me to a restaurant called Local 111, which could probably entice most of us on the NYCR team by its name alone. Sure enough, the menu was a drool-worthy page of locavore porn: hedonistic dishes based on seasonal produce, locally-raised meat, Hudson Valley cheese, and best of all, suggested local wine pairings.

Local beer including Chatham Brewing Company was on tap as well.

Hudson-Chatham was on offer on the wine list, and the experience of drinking wine (we opted for the Seyval and Baco) with folks so intimately involved in its production was, as always, unbeatable. I thoroughly enjoyed my pickled ramp salad appetizer with Seyval, entrée of pork chop and pork belly with fritters paired with the Baco, and a Hudson Valley cheese plate with Hudson-Chatham blackberry cassis for dessert (that cassis, by the way, is a revelation — truly one of the most fascinating and bewitching dessert beverages I’ve ever had, with piercing acid, fierce berry flavor, and seamless alcohol. The pairing with the country cheeses was incredible and an exciting marriage of two unique Hudson Valley treats).

Chef Josephine Proul, bubbly, natural and fun, came out to say hi and share her obvious passion. It was a stunning meal and one I won’t forget.

After dinner we headed to the DeVito home where Carlo let me loose on his cellar. Perhaps the most interesting wine of the many we tried was a 1993 Baco — one of the first wines Steve ever made. It reminded me of one of Freedom Run’s single-vineyard pinot noirs: great fruit character, pinot funk and gorgeous acid, and amazingly well-preserved. It was a suggestion that Baco surely has the structure to age in the right conditions.

My second day in the Hudson Valley involved even more wine tasting, and my next post will focus on those experiences. But for me, the highlight of the entire weekend was that evening of enlightening wine talk and fabulous fare with some of the smartest people in the area. Their commitment to watching the Hudson Valley wine industry grow and find its niche in the wine world is inspiring, and the most exciting part of all is the wines themselves.

Another impressive 2009 riesling from New York? Yes. And this one is from Long Island.

Because he mostly works with Bordeaux reds and chardonnay locally, people wondered what German-born winemaker Roman Roth (Wolffer Estate, Roanoke Vineyards) would do with local riesling. When Roth introduced his private label, The Grapes of Roth, several years ago, he started with a merlot, but introduced his first riesling not long after.

And of the three rieslings he's made under the GoR label, Grapes of Roth 2009 Riesling ($22) might be his best yet. Roth purchases the fruit for this wine from Split Rock Vineyards outside of Greenport -- one of the North Forks cooler sites. This wine was then vinified at Wolffer Estate.

Green melon, peach, lime and floral aromas are accented by beautiful smoky-flinty notes and hints of boytritis with its honeyed, spicy character.

Lemon-lime, green melon and peach flavors mingle on the dry palate with a laser beam of focused, wet-stone minerality running right down the center.The spicy botrytis quality adds a layer of complexity while fresh, well-integrated acidity gives the wine a tension that really extends the finish and all of its citrus-melon and citrus blossom flavors. That floral quality on the finish is a real standout.

Roth’s wines are currently available at Roanoke Vineyards and will soon be found at The Winemaker Studio, set to open soon on Peconic Lane.

June 14, 2011

I am finally seeing the Mosel Valley firsthand. Like a kid who has looked at magazines of Disneyland for years and finally enters the gate, I have crossed the threshold from fantasy to reality.

And reality does not disappoint.

I am an acid hound, and can never have too many rieslings skate across my palate. The steep vineyards abutting the Mosel River are made of slate, and tons of it. The resulting wines are high-acid, mineral-driven, time bombs of fruit and sheer, taut power.

They are not for the faint of heart. Proceed with caution.

This wine swept me off my feet today. An explosion of flavor and sensation, it has a stunning concentration. I wanted to cry a tear of joy but all body defenses were dealing with the roller coaster ride of slate and minerals spinning like a top on the tart lemon backdrop.

This is cotton candy, funnel cakes and a hot dog rolled into one before a ride on Space Mountain.

I'm on the move, please forgive my typos.

Aaron Estes: Mikkeller Cluster Single Hop IPA

Any opportunity I have to go into the city, I usually make some sort of an excuse to go to one of the various beer bars around the city, and see if they happen to have anything interesting on tap.

This past weekend, it was my job to keep a friend out of the house while his wife decorated their apartment to look like a beer garden in preparation for his surprise birthday party. To keep within the theme of the day, I decided to take him to The Blind Tiger, have a couple of pints, and get out of the pouring rain that was making its way through the city. All I can say is that they must have known we were coming.

I am definitely a self-proclaimed Hop-Head. I love IPA's. Any time I see one I haven't tried, I can't help myself. So imagine my surprise when we walked into the bar to the aftermath of a Mikkeller (Danish Brewery) Single Hop event where there were 19 Single Hop IPA's. That's right...19...

After reading through the list, and tasting through a few of them, my favorite was made with "Cluster" Hops. Taken from their tasting notes, Clusters are the oldest Hops grown in the United States. Up until the 1970's, it was one of the few American Hops available.

I didn't know if I would like it at first given the floral tones on the nose, but the orange and citrus balanced with the bittering on the finish won me over big time. Very interesting, and very different. Too many varieties to try in one day, but of the few I did try, Cluster was definitely the standout for me.

Evan Dawson: Cantina Santadi 2005 Shardana, Sardinia

This wine is like the upstate New York weather. Don't like it? Wait five minutes. It'll change.

When's the last time you had a wine that was almost entirely carignan from Sardinia? Or a wine from Sardinia at all?

That was interesting enough. More significantly, this is one of the better big reds I've had in the past year.

Truly complex and showing no oak, it's rich but not fat, darkly fruited and yet bright, with an undertone that evokes fresh blacktop covered in lavender. What a fun wine.

We were simply in the mood for a steak and a big red, even on a warm night, and I'm glad we went there.

This one ain't easy to find, but we'll look for more.

Lenn Thompson: Two North Fork 2005 Cabernet Francs

My in-laws like wine. They drink it regularly, but they aren't what anyone would consider wine geeks. But they are intrepidly curious and always willing to try just about anything I'll pour for them.

And for me, it's fun to teach them a bit about wine here and there when the opportunity arises.

Saturday we dodged the raindrops and visited a couple North Fork wineries as a family and got to taste something fun from the library at Peconic Bay Winery -- a 2005 cabernet franc. It was soft and silky with mature loamy earth and spice flavors -- actually a bit more mature than I would have expected, but certainly a treat and it sparked a conversation about what 'typically' happens to wines as they age.

When we got home and started to prepare a dinner of flank steak with garlic scape pesto and braised greens with white beans (we had picked up our first CSA share earlier), I decided to open another 2005 cab franc, this time from Pellegrini Vineyards, to see how it would compare.

Tasting a bit more youthful, the fruit was more primary and there was much more structure and tannin with a dose of spicy oak to stood out on the finish.

I'd be curious to hear about your experiences with 5-10 year old cab franc.

Bryan Calandrelli: Mountfair Vineyards 2007 Composition

There aren't many opportunities where I get to try Virginia wines. Even though I've heard great things about their cabernet franc, red blends and viognier, I can count on one hand the examples I've tasted.

Needless to say I was stoked to find this Mountfair Vineyards 2007 Composition at a picnic the other day.

This Monticello-grown blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot stood out with its sophisticated cherry, plum fruit and spice aromas. Ripe without being over-extracted, with fine tannins and a good backbone, this blend reminded me of well-made Long Island red blends.

Apparently this producer specializes in Bordeaux blends and it shows in the complexity of this bottle. If I make it to Monticello wine country, they will be on the top of my must visit list.

We've added several writers to the NYCR team over the years, but today we welcome Mark Grimaldi to the website as our director of marketing and events -- with his focus set squarely on events.

With our New York Beverage Artisan Dinners off to a great start -- with the next one set to be announced soon -- Mark will no doubt be busy coordinating with winemakers, brewers and distillers from across the the state.

Mark is also a driving force in our "DRINK LONG ISLAND WINE" sticker program (more on that soon).

Many in the Long Island and Finger Lakes wine communities already know Mark -- he has a connection to both.

Though born and raised in White Plains, NY, he moved to the North Fork in 2008 and then met his now-wife Olivia -- who hails from the Finger Lakes -- not long after. A definite wine geek, he has quickly immersed himself in both wine regions.

Mark has worked for Michael Skurnik Wines for the past six years with roles ranging from wine marketing and label design to now sales and consulting.With this industry experience, Mark will also contribute editorial content as well on occasion.

Join me in welcoming Mark to the team -- a team that he really endeared himself to in January when he blind tasted us on a 2006 White Zinfandel-Chardonnay blend the night before our Wines of the Year tasting.

June 13, 2011

I made my first visit to Chatham Brewing recently and based on what I tasted I know it won't be my last.

This small, neighborhood-friendly brewery has a dynamite lineup with balance and great flavor across the board. Craving hops, I brought home a growler of this baby.

This double IPA pours a rusty amber-copper haze into a pint glass with a fluffy one-to-two-finger head and good lacing. The nose surprised me at first with intense citrus, as in someone-just-peeled-an-orange fresh citrus fruit. As the beer warmed up slightly it reveals an elegant malt profile; the combo makes for a yummy and unique nose, though not at all what I was expecting hop-wise from a beer called "Super IPA."

On the palate, there's tons of orange and peach, a lot of smooth malt, just a hint of warmth and sweetness from the alcohol, and crisp, clean hops that never step out for that screaming solo but instead remain in line with the rest of the components. Good carbonation and clean flavors to the finish make for an extremely drinkable, smooth brew.

This isn't your resiny, musky hop bomb. It's actually very well-rounded and was approachable enough that all my coworkers enjoyed a growler of it over the weekend. The alcohol is well-hidden and it comes off as almost a session beer.

I was able to get my hop fix with this tasty Hudson Valley offering without scaring away less hop-head-inclined fellow drinkers, and that's cool.

June 12, 2011

That photo is me with Hermann Wiemer, who stopped by a wine tasting/Summer in a Glass book event at Red Feet Wines Market in Ithaca last night.

It was the first time I've seen Hermann in quite a while, and the first time we've spoken since the book came out.

Naturally, I've wondered what he thought about it, and about the chapter focusing on his legacy in particular.

All I can tell you is that before the end of the night, Hermann was signing books for Red Feet customers.

We chatted about a number of subjects, none of them officially on the record, so I can't get into details. But I hope to follow up with Hermann soon and get his formal take on many New York wine subjects.

He has strong opinions and I hope he continues to share them, even in retirement.